(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device and a driving method thereof, and more particularly, to a display device capable of reducing power consumption and preventing flicker from being recognized and to a method for driving the display device.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Currently, display devices are required for computer monitors, televisions, mobile phones, and many other widely-used electronic devices. For example, a display device may be a cathode ray tube display device, a liquid crystal display device, or a plasma display device.
The display device typically includes a graphic processing unit (GPU), a display panel, and a signal controller. The graphic processing unit transmits image data to the signal controller; the signal controller generates a control signal for driving the display panel and transmits the control signal together with the image data to the display panel, thereby driving the display device.
Images displayed on the display panel may be classified into still images and motion pictures. The display panel typically displays several frames per second. If the image data included in the frames are the same, a still image is displayed. On the other hand, if the frames include different image data, a motion picture is displayed.
Since the signal controller receives image data from the graphic processing unit for every frame even when the same image data has been received in the previous frame, unnecessary power consumption is incurred.
Recently, methods for reducing the power consumption of the display device have been researched. According to an example method, the image data of a still image is stored in a frame memory that is implemented in the signal controller, and the stored image data is provided to the display panel for displaying the still image. Since the image data does not need to be repeatedly received from the graphic processing unit for displaying the still image, power consumption related to the operation of the graphic processing unit may be reduced.
Nevertheless, for implementing this method, the operation of the additional frame memory may require additional power consumption, which may substantially reduce the benefit of this method.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention. This Background section may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.